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Shown Here:Introduced in House (09/24/2003)

[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 3171 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3171
To provide for an appropriate review of recently enacted legislation
relating to terrorism to assure that powers granted in it do not
inappropriately undermine civil liberties.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 24, 2003
Mr. Kucinich (for himself, Mr. Paul, Mr. Conyers, Mr. George Miller of
California, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Solis, Mr.
Honda, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. McDermott, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. McGovern,
Mr. Abercrombie, Ms. Lee, Mr. Stark, Mr. Filner, Mr. Grijalva, Ms.
Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Hinchey, and Mr. Farr) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary,
and in addition to the Select Committees on Intelligence (Permanent
Select), Education and the Workforce, Government Reform, and
Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for an appropriate review of recently enacted legislation
relating to terrorism to assure that powers granted in it do not
inappropriately undermine civil liberties.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Benjamin Franklin True Patriot
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Benjamin Franklin stated: ``Those who would give up
essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety,
deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.''.
(2) The First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth
Amendments to the United States Constitution were established
to protect the civil rights and liberties of all Americans in
perpetuity.
(3) Federal policies adopted since September 11, 2001,
including provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56)
and related executive orders, regulations, and actions threaten
fundamental rights and liberties, including the First, Fourth,
Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the
Constitution by--
(A) authorizing the indefinite incarceration of
noncitizens based on mere suspicion, and the indefinite
incarceration of citizens designated by the President
as ``enemy combatants'' without access to counsel or
meaningful recourse to the Federal courts;
(B) limiting the traditional authority of Federal
courts to curb law enforcement abuse of electronic
surveillance in antiterrorism investigations and
ordinary criminal investigations;
(C) expanding the authority of Federal agents to
conduct so-called ``sneak and peek'' or ``black bag''
searches, in which the subject of the search warrant is
unaware that his or her property has been searched;
(D) granting law enforcement and intelligence
agencies broad access to personal medical, financial,
library, and education records with little if any
judicial oversight;
(E) chilling constitutionally protected speech
through overbroad definitions of ``terrorism'';
(F) creating divisions between immigrant
communities and the police that protect them by
encouraging involvement of State and local police in
enforcement of Federal immigration law; and the police
that protect them;
(G) permitting the FBI to conduct surveillance of
religious services, internet chatrooms, political
demonstrations, and other public meetings of any kind
without having any evidence that a crime has been or
may be committed; and
(H) mandating the closure of certain immigration
removal hearings, including denying judges the
authority to reject stays of release where bond has
been ordered and denying noncitizens the right to a
bond hearing.
(4) Future legislation, such as legislation drafted
entitled the Domestic Security Enhancement Act (DSEA) or
PATRIOT II, contains a multitude of new and sweeping law
enforcement and intelligence gathering powers many of which are
not related to terrorism, and would severely dilute and
undermine many basic constitutional rights as well as disturb
our unique system of checks and balances by--
(A) diminishing personal privacy by removing
important checks on government surveillance authority;
(B) reducing the accountability of government to
the public by increasing government secrecy;
(C) expanding the definition of ``terrorism'' in a
manner that threatens the constitutionally protected
rights of Americans; and
(D) seriously eroding the right of all persons to
due process of law.
(5) The above new and unprecedented powers pose threats to
all Americans and particularly to the civil rights and
liberties of the residents of our Nation who are Arab, Muslim,
or of South Asian descent.
SEC. 3. NINETY-DAY REVIEW PERIOD.
Each provision of law, regulation, or other policy directive listed
in sections 4 through 10, and any amendments made by that provision,
shall cease to have effect 90 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act. During this 90-day period, the Congress may, at the request
of the President, hold hearings to determine whether a particular
section should be removed from the list in section 4.
SEC. 4. PROVISIONS IN THE USA PATRIOT ACT.
The provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56) to which
section 3 applies are:
(1) Section 213, relating to ``sneak and peak searches''.
(2) Section 214, relating to the use of pen registers for
foreign intelligence purposes.
(3) Section 215, relating to the obtaining by the
Government of certain business records.
(4) Section 216, relating to the use of pen registers in
criminal cases.
(5) Section 218, relating to the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act.
(6) Section 411, relating to new grounds for deportation.
(7) Section 412, relating to mandatory detention of certain
aliens.
(8) Section 505, relating to national security letters.
(9) Section 507, relating to educational records.
(10) Section 508, relating to collection and disclosure of
individually identifiable information under the National
Education Statistics Act of 1994.
(11) Section 802, relating to the definition of domestic
terrorism.
SEC. 5. PROVISIONS OF AVIATION SECURITY ACT EXCLUDING PERMANENT
RESIDENT ALIENS FROM BEING BAGGAGE CHECKERS.
Section 3 also applies to section 44935(e)(2)(A)(ii) of title 49,
United States Code.
SEC. 6. HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 2002 PROVISIONS.
Section 3 also applies to the following provisions of the Homeland
Security Act of 2002:
(1) Section 214, relating to an exemption from the Freedom
of Information Act.
(2) Section 871, relating to an exemption from the Federal
Advisory Committee Act.
SEC. 7. IMMIGRATION REGULATIONS PROVISIONS.
Section 3 also applies to the following provisions of regulations:
(1) The regulation found at 66 Federal Register 48334-35
(September 20, 2001) relating to time held without charges.
(2) The regulation found at 66 Federal Register 54909-12
(October 31, 2001) relating to automatic stays for the
Government in immigration hearings.
(3) The so-called ``Creppy memo'' that mandates closed
immigration hearings in certain cases, and 67 Federal Register
54878 (August 26, 2002) relating to restructuring appeals.
(4) Any legal opinion or regulation that increases the
powers of the Attorney General to authorize State or local law
enforcement officers to exercise Federal immigration
enforcement beyond those given in 8 CFR Part 2 or 28 CFR Part
65.
(5) The regulation found at 67 Federal Register 52584
(August 12, 2002), relating to registration and monitoring of
certain aliens, and all notices published pursuant to that
regulation.
SEC. 8. ATTORNEY-CLIENT MONITORING.
Section 3 also applies to the regulation found at 66 Federal
Register 55063, relating to monitoring conversations between attorneys
and clients.
SEC. 9. SECRECY ORDERS.
Section 3 also applies to the memorandum of Attorney General
Ashcroft dated October 12, 2001 and relating to the disclosure of
documents under the Freedom of Information Act.
SEC. 10. THORNBURG GUIDELINES ON RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION SPYING.
Section 3 also applies to any regulations having the effect of
changing the effect of the Attorney General's Guidelines on General
Crimes, Racketeering Enterprise and Domestic Security/Terrorism
Investigations approved by Attorney General Dick Thornburg for the
Department of Justice on March 21, 1989.
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